Regis Prograis eyes Devin Haney after beating ‘hometown jitters’ and Zorrilla

Before defending his World Boxing Council junior welterweight title in his New Orleans hometown, Regis Prograis said “fuck” several of his potential future opponents.

After taking care of business by winning a meandering split decision over late replacement Danielito Zorrilla on Saturday night at the Smoothie King Center, the 34-year-old Prograis might get the chance to disrespect them inside the ropes in what’s become one of boxing’s hottest divisions.

Prograis rallied from a knockdown in the first round which the referee missed to land a hard left in the third which sent Zorrilla to the deck and almost flipped him over, providing what was arguably the most consequential moment of the fight. He closed in for the stoppage soon after Zorrilla got up, but the Puerto Rican challenger fought his way out of trouble.

The 34-year-old southpaw known as Rougarou spent the remainder of the 12-round affair trying to cut off the ring and land a single fight-changing punch against an opponent who fought from range and never seemed overly eager to exchange. Zorrilla appeared willing to risk less and less as the finish line drew nearer, leading to inaction that elicited boos from the crowd of 6,319 spectators at the home of the NBA’s New Orleans Pelicans.

Two of the official ringside judges turned in scores of 118-109 and 117-110 for Prograis with the third scoring it 114-113 for Zorrilla. (The Guardian had it 114-113 for Prograis.)

“I kept pressing the action, but he ran around the whole time,” Prograis said afterward in the ring. “I definitely have to go back to the gym and work on some things. He ran and he tried to survived. He was stronger than I thought and he caught me with some punches, but he just ran around. It was kind of